First Nations, French Canadians & Acadians

I am looking for native connections to Algonquin with the name Scholastique Cousineau who married Clément Guertin on Nov. 4th, 1844 in Aylmer, Quebec. She is Algonquin but I need a positive connection that says so. She may have come from Lake of Two Mountains or Golden Lake. I’ve already been to and checked with the Kitigan Zibi without success. To me, it would mean the difference between ‘fiction and non-fiction’ in my novel writing. your help would be greatly appreciated. Norman

Information 1

Confirmation of parents

Clement Guertin (son of Michel Guertin and Marie-Louise Girard) and Scholastique Cousineau (daughter of Amable Cousineau and Marie Tailleferre) were married in St-Paul parish (Aylmer, Gatineau, Qc) on Nov. 4th, 1844. I have been unable to decipher any mention of First Nations heritage. In a follow-up search at Ancestry.com and BMS2000, I have so far not definitively located the marriage of Scholastique’s parents (Cousineau/Tailleferre). The Ancestry indexing is notoriously mangled so if anyone reading this is familiar with the marriage – please leave a note in the comments boxes below.

Information 2

Confirmation of connection to Two Mountains

This is the baptismal registration of Scholastique Cousineau.

It confirms her parents and lists Antoine Campeau and Therese Maisonneuve as godparents. The birth and baptism took place on the same day (May 20th, 1827) in St-Scholastique in Deux-Montagnes (Two Mountains).

I have enlarged the words that might be giving a location for the father – cultivateur de (farmer of) ???

Information 3

The nearest First Nations people are the Mohawk of Kanehsatà:ke.

I’ve briefly checked the 1850s census for the Deux-Montagnes area but the nationality is not listed for the inhabitants of Ste-Scholastique.

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Thank you for the baptismal certificate; I may or may not have it. I have so much stuff. I certainly will check as if my memory serves me well, which it usually does, I do not have this connection. You have the right parents and the ‘no-marriage-for-Scholastique’s-parents’ comment is interesting as well.

One of my many theories is that she is illegitimate…the name Scholastique Tsiaenere came up in some native file of some sort. It said ‘fille de (8AHONONSSNORON, J-Bte, Agathe Kaniharons b:02-02-1830 ) The original birth shows her as ‘Illigitimate’ is written in pencil beside this. I will have to contact someone to see about this original birth…and why he feels that this has anything to do with Scholastique Cousineau. This may be nothing though.

Nonetheless, one of my past great aunts told me that it was never understood why Scholastique spoke Algonquin, French, and Iroquois yet she was from the Algonquin tribe. So, of course, you know what I was thinking: she was with the Iroquois, as both of these tribes did live together for some time, and at some point, she migrated to the Kitigan Zibi or elsewhere. My past road trip to meet with Admin at the Kitigan showed zero records of her or her ancestry.

I am now leaning towards finding her either at Two Mountains, Golden Lake and/or the reserve near LakeTemiskaming if she is status. If non-status, however, it could be more difficult to find her as Algonquin since she would have lived off the reserve (today, recognized fully as Indian whereas they were generally purposely forgotten Indians in the past or told to go live on the reserve by settlers and goverment (which, most, 51% refused to do).

I have a picture of Scholastique with Clément and she has the undeniable appearance of Algonquin; including her clothes)

I am not a computer savvy person; I use microsoft word to write (prefer a pen) and google, use libraries, read books and do roadtrips to research. I am also nervous about communicating with people electronically (as I am with you now). Believeme, I did a stretch when I reached out to you for help.

Thank you so much for your help. If you make the connection, I assure you that I will make clear mention of you, Evelyn, in my intended sequel novels which will be written in both French and English (which first, I haven’t decided yet). I will also send you signed copies. Oh, what a dreamer eh?

Thanks once more. If you find anything else, I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello Evelyn
I am also a descendant of Amable Cousineau and Marie Taillefer. Their granddaughter, Virginie Cousineau is my great great grandmother. I would greatly appreciate any information on the family that you have.
Thank you.

I am also looking into this as well. My mother is a descendant of scholastic following the surnames gosselin to Martel. I have a photo that my mother obtained through her family standing beside clement guertin. He is wearing a metiss sash and she obviously appears to have aboriginal heritage. Please email me. I would like to know what I can learn about my family history. My email wade.norman37@gmail.com.